Inpex awarded new block offshore Australia

Japan’s Inpex has been awarded an exploration permit for Release Area AC/P66 offshore Australia.

Inpex said that the company was awarded an exploration permit for the block as an operator. The block was awarded in Australia’s 2018 Offshore Petroleum Exploration Acreage Release.

The AC/P66 block is located in the Bonaparte Basin of the North West Shelf of Australia and covers a surface area of 3,460 square kilometers in water depths between 60 and 500 meters.

According to the company, it lies in the vicinity of discovered and developed oil fields including the Laminaria oil field and is considered to be a promising area where further hydrocarbon discoveries are believed possible.

Inpex will hold a 100 percent participating interest in the block where it will pursue exploration activities.

Inpex added that the “sustainable growth of oil and natural gas E&P activities” was one of the company’s goals outlined in Vision 2040, and the North West Shelf of Australia is positioned as one of its priority exploration areas.

The company is involved in multiple oil and natural gas development projects in Australia, including the Ichthys LNG project, on which it is the operator.

It is worth noting that the impact of this development on the company’s consolidated financial results was minimal.